Cybercrime and fake news are real dangers to society

Cybercrime and fake news are the digital pandemics of the 21st Century, and it seems like the entire world is sick. Hackers were seemingly behind the service disruption on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram recently, and here in Kenya we have seen a 10 per cent surge in the number of hacking incidents compared to the same period last year.

While hacking and cybercrime can be a worrying threat, there are technological answers to leaky defences. Comparatively, no open society has found the antidote to fake news, and it has already influenced significant global incidents such as election and referendum results and mistrust in society and institutions.